Enhanced weight loss with pramlintide/metreleptin: an integrated neurohormonal approach to obesity pharmacotherapy

E Ravussin, SR Smith, JA Mitchell, R Shringarpure… - …, 2009 - Wiley Online Library
E Ravussin, SR Smith, JA Mitchell, R Shringarpure, K Shan, H Maier, JE Koda, C Weyer
Obesity, 2009Wiley Online Library
The neurohormonal control of body weight involves a complex interplay between long‐term
adiposity signals (eg, leptin), and short‐term satiation signals (eg, amylin). In diet‐induced
obese (DIO) rodents, amylin/leptin combination treatment led to marked, synergistic, fat‐
specific weight loss. To evaluate the weight‐lowering effect of combined amylin/leptin
agonism (with pramlintide/metreleptin) in human obesity, a 24‐week, randomized, double‐
blind, active‐drug‐controlled, proof‐of‐concept study was conducted in obese or overweight …
The neurohormonal control of body weight involves a complex interplay between long‐term adiposity signals (e.g., leptin), and short‐term satiation signals (e.g., amylin). In diet‐induced obese (DIO) rodents, amylin/leptin combination treatment led to marked, synergistic, fat‐specific weight loss. To evaluate the weight‐lowering effect of combined amylin/leptin agonism (with pramlintide/metreleptin) in human obesity, a 24‐week, randomized, double‐blind, active‐drug‐controlled, proof‐of‐concept study was conducted in obese or overweight subjects (N = 177; 63% female; 39 ± 8 years; BMI 32.0 ± 2.1 kg/m2; 93.3 ± 13.2 kg; mean ± s.d.). After a 4‐week lead‐in period with pramlintide (180 µg b.i.d. for 2 weeks, 360 µg b.i.d. thereafter) and diet (40% calorie deficit), subjects achieving 2–8% weight loss were randomized 1:2:2 to 20 weeks of treatment with metreleptin (5 mg b.i.d.), pramlintide (360 µg b.i.d.), or pramlintide/metreleptin (360 µg/5 mg b.i.d.). Combination treatment with pramlintide/metreleptin led to significantly greater weight loss from enrollment to week 20 (−12.7 ± 0.9%; least squares mean ± s.e.) than treatment with pramlintide (−8.4 ± 0.9%; P < 0.001) or metreleptin (−8.2 ± 1.3%; P < 0.01) alone (evaluable, N = 93). The greater reduction in body weight was significant as early as week 4, and weight loss continued throughout the study, without evidence of a plateau. The most common adverse events with pramlintide/metreleptin were injection site events and nausea, which were mostly mild to moderate and decreased over time. These results support further development of pramlintide/metreleptin as a novel, integrated neurohormonal approach to obesity pharmacotherapy.
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